Hekab Be is a community-based library that serves locals and visitors alike. Our work is solely supported by the generous donations of library friends and visitors.
Special thanks to our Santa, Kevin McKee; to Turtle Bay Cafe for donating a delicious cake; to Robert Gilgoff for playing guitar to accompany the kids who sang in Mayan & to the rest of the Gilgoff family for all their assistance in party preparations; to Shelby Steele who did her own gift fundraiser and brought us 2 suitcases full of Christmas gifts from Ottawa; and to Emilia May for conducting many jarana dance rehearsals with the kids and moms! And of course, a BIG thank you to all who donated so we could buy gifts for each and every child!You made their wishes come true!!
Kevin aka "Redbeard" painted his beard white and made a perfect Santa Claus! click on photos to see larger images
Kids dancing the jarana, wearing traditional Yucatecan clothes--guayaberas worn by the boys
and ternos worn by the girls
Robert spent many dedicated hours rehearsing with the kids and figuring out how to play the song, by ear.
Our staff member, Belen, was among the ladies (mothers of kids who come to the library) who danced the jarana at the party.
We wish everyone in our library family, near and far, a very MerryChristmas & Feliz Navidad!
As you can see, the party was a great success! Many thanks to all the people who donated for gifts. In total, we gave out 62 personalized gifts to children who frequent the library on a regular basis, plus another 20 stuffed animals to kids who attended the party.
You should have seen the kids' faces when we opened the enormous toy bag! click on photos to see larger image
The kids presented 2 songs, one in Mayan, and one in Spanish & English (Feliz Navidad, I want to wish you a Merry Christmas)!
Winners of the Christmas Story Contest/Ganadores de concurso del cuento de Navidad: Muchas gracias a la maestra Sandra y las familias en Cancun que donaron para comprar las bicicletas, hicieron muy felices a los ninos! Thanks to our English teacher, Sandra, and the families in Cancun who donated to buy bicycles for the winners, they made these kids very happy!!
Carol, 1st place girls in the drawn stories contest
Joshua, 1st place boys in the drawn stories contest
Santiago, 1st place boys winner for the written story contest
Unfortunately due to technical difficulties we didn't get a photo of Dalia, the first place winner for girls in the written story contest. =-(
Please note the library will be closed December 24th, 25th, 31st & January 1st
Piñata Party!
In preparation for our upcoming Christmas party, Leo & Carlos led the kids through the step by step process of making our very own piñata! It was fun (and messy) work, and very cool to see it change from a balloon into a beautiful, colorful piñata. Special thanks to our friends from Vancouver: Robert, Betty, Hannah & Adam who weren't afraid to get their hands goopy!
Click on photos to see larger image
Pasting the strips of newspaper onto the balloon (used as the base form for the pinata) using a flour & water paste, the kids liked getting their hands all gooey as you can see from their smiles
Making cones and cutting tissue paper to be added to the pinata. Each of the 7 cones stands for one of the cardinal sins (pride, wrath, envy, gluttony, avarice/greed, lust & discouragement). By knocking the cones off the pinata when it is broken during the party, the sins are symbolically banished, giving everyone a clean slate! How's that for good, clean fun?
Pasting on the cones, the bottom one was the hardest to set in place.Half way there....uh oh, we ran out of paste, had to switch to glue, a much stickier method
The finished pinata and contented pinateros (pinata makers)
Our Christmas Wish List Is Complete!! Many thanks to all those who donated & brought gifts, we now have presents for all the kids. Our elves are busy wrapping and getting ready for the party. Hope to see you there!
Christmas Party 2009 - Tuesday December 22
2:00 PM Please join us!
Holiday Closure: Please note the library will be closed December 24th, 25th, 31st & January 1st
This year we are trying something new, we asked the kids to write down what they wanted for Christmas. Below is a list of the Christmas Wishes of kids who regularly come to the library and participate in our programs. We are hoping to find sponsors to help purchase or bring all of these gifts.
To help us keep track of gifts that are already accounted for, please send us a brief email (akumallibrary@gmail.com) if you are bringing any gifts. That way we can remove it from the list, to avoid duplicates. -->Not coming to Akumal but want to help us get these gifts? You can make a donation, just let us know it's for Christmas gifts and we'll use the funds for that purpose.
Thank you for helping make these kids' wishes come true!
ChristmasGiftWishList:
Converse chuck taylor all stars style sneakers-- please note that a knock-off or off-brand (not converse brand) would be fine:
--2 pairs white, youth size 5
--1 pair black or white youth size 4.5
--1 pair, any color, youth size 4
--Mac the truck toy from Cars movie or superman action figure
--4 Max Steel Action Figure Dolls (or other superhero if you can't find Max Steel)
--10 Remote control cars (with an extra set of batteries, if possible, since many families cannot afford to buy replacements. Usually we ask people not to bring battery operated toys, we are making an exception this year for Santa!)
--5 dolls: 1 that crawls, 1 that sings/dances, 1 that cries, 1 with pacifier, 1 with stroller
and ternos worn by the girls
Our staff member, Belen, was among the ladies (mothers of kids who come to the library) who danced the jarana at the party.
